Container for object slides

ABSTRACT

A container for the reception of at least one object slide for microscope use is provided with a reception recess. In the recess, support projections for the support of a large object slide face and stop projections for the abutment of the edges of the object slide are provided. The container is made up of two body members made of plastic and having different or similar configuration. A container for a plurality of object slides is provided with a predetermined breaking line for the division of the container into smaller units.

llnited States Patent Markwitz et al. Sept. 4, 1973 [54] CONTAINER FOR OBJECT SLIDES 3,344,913 10/1967 Best 206/46 FR [76] Inventors: Be n a d Markwitz, Brodersweg 3,451,542 6/1969 Bundy et al 206/62 R 9-10; Horst Pomp, Gojenbergsweg OTHER PUBLICATIONS both of Hamburg Germany IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 8, No. l l, p. [22] Filed: Dec. 14, 1970 1642 April 1966.

[2]] Appl' 97,819 Primary Examiner-Leonard Summer Attorney-Beaman & Beaman [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 20, 1969 Germany P 19 63 926.0 57 ABSTRACT June 23, 1970 Germany P 20 30 810.5

A container for the reception of at least one ob ect [52] U 8 Cl 206/62 R 20656 AB 206,72 slide for microscope use is provided with a reception 51 Int. c|..... 865d 85/48, 865d 1/36, B65d 69/00 recessthe 9 Pmlecmns b [58} Field of Search 206 R 62 R 46 FR port ofa large ob ect slide face and stop PIOJfiCtlOl'lS for the abutment of the ed es of the obect slide are rovided. The container is made up of two body members [56] References Cited made of plastic and having different or similar configuration. A container for a plurality of object slides is pro- UNITED STATES PATENTS vided with a predetermined breaking line for the divig; g

sion of the container into smaller units. pee man 1,433,560 10/1922 Lund 206/1 R 5 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures Pmmsuser 41m 3756393 SHEET 1 [If 3 PATENTEBSH m: I 3.756393 1/ ll Ill/III Q ///1 1 CONTAINER FOR OBJECT SLIDES The invention relates to a container for the reception of object slides to be used in microscopy, and more particularly to a plastic container, in which the specimens on the object slides are not endangered.

The known shipping containers for object slides are preferably made of fiber board or wood. The slides can only be taken out of these containers with great difficulty. Further the specimen on the slides are not sufficiently protected against undesirable contacts. The volume of such known containers is relatively great as not only the surface of the container is greater than the surface of the object slide, but the known containers are relatively thick. Such thick containers may not be shipped as simple printed matter. This is an important disadvantage as the object slides used in cytologic or histologic tests have often to be shipped from the practice of the physician to test centers. The specimen may be uncovered or be covered by a very thin cover slide.

The object slide may be simple, relatively thin rectangular glass plate or about 1 inch X 3 inches having a thickness of under 1 mm in one embodiment or may be somewhat thicker in another embodiment.

On the other hand object slides are known, which have the same length and width but are provided with quadratic recesses on both sides, in which for example a drop of blood may be deposited for counting the leucocytes. The known containers have very serious disadvantages as they could hardly be sterilized in a sufficient manner and as the specimen on the object slide may easily contact the inward faces of the container, so that the specimen will get dirty or spoiled.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a container for the reception of object slides which is adapted to be easily shipped as printed matter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container which may be sterilized in a sufficient manner.

Another object is to provide a container, in which the object slide is contacted by the container only at very small areas without endangering the specimen.

According to the invention a recess is provided in a first body member, into which the object slide may be placed. In the recess there are provided support projections to support the slide at at least three points on one of the large faces thereof and stop projections against which at least two opposed edges of the slide abut, said support projections being lower than said stop projections. The recess is covered by a second body member.

In such a container the specimen on the object slide will contact the inner surface of the container, because the slide is supported. Three support points result in a stable support action. As at least two opposed edges of the object slide are held only by stop projections the slide may be very easily taken from the first body member, when the second body member has been removed. It is of advantage to provide the support projections in a spaced relation from the stop edges of the stop projections (for example with a distance of mm). With such arrangement the object slide may be simply removed from the container by pressing with a finger on an area of the object slide near one of the support projections. The object slide will pivot with respect to this support projection and one end will rise outof the recess. This end may easily be seized.

More particularly, in accordance with the invention,

' there are provided a recess, support and stop projections in the second body member, providing a recess, support and stop projections in the second body member, so that the object slide may be placed in either body member. If, however, the second body member only serves as a lid it is sufficient to provide some holding projections on the inward face of the second body member, said holding projections being opposed the support projections of the first body member, if the container is closed.

It is preferred to provide stop projections for all four edges of the object slide, so that the object slide does not abut against a peripheral edge flange which is provided on the body member to define the recess for the reception of the slide. The placing of the object slide and its removal is thus made easier.

With preferred embodiments of the invention the stop projections for two opposed edges of the object slide, preferably for the shorter parallel edges, are of considerable length, whereas the stop projections for the longer edges of the object slide are only short.

It has already been stated that object slides of different thicknesses are used. With respect to this fact it is possible to provide a container according to the invention, which may receive the thick and the thin object slides. The object slide is held by the stop projections in its recess so that in the case of a thinner object slide the possible movement of the object slide does not endanger the specimen. The support projections may be provided in the form of low lands, which are arranged away from the stop projections at a distance of about 10 mm. Further it is of advantage, if the support projections and the stop projections for the longer edges of the object slide are integrated.

According to the invention, one of the body members including a bottom plate, may be provided with a rim extending in the plane of the bottom plate and projecting beyond the base of a peripheral edge flange provided on the plate. The other body member is also provided with an edge flange. The latter edge flange has outer dimensions which allow a sliding of the edge flange over the other edge flange until the free end of the former abuts against the rim.

To provide a container, which is adapted to the size of a normal letter, it is advisable to combine two peripheral edge flanges to a unit, so that the edge flanges have a common central edge flange section. The adaptation may be enhanced by providing two sets of two peripheral edge flanges; the flanges of each set having a central edge flange section being a section of both edge flanges, are provided on the bottom plate of one of the body members, while the other body member may be formed as asimple lid member or correspondingly provided with edge flanges and projections. For an easy breaking of such multiple-units predetermined breaking connections are provided between the two sets of edge flanges, which may be broken by simply bending the container halves.

For a quick and sufficient sterilization the container is made out of plastic and is preferably injectionmolded of polystyrene.

If both the first and the second body member have the same design pattern, the persons using the container need not to pay attention whether they place the object slides into the first or the second body; further it makes no difierence, which body member is the top body member, when the container is opened. With this embodiment another advantage resides in the fact that both body members have substantially the same strength and rigidity.

The connection bridge defining the predetermined breaking line may be formed substantially in the plane of the bottom plates of the body members or may be displaced towards the interior of the container. Whether the one or the other configuration is preferred depends on whether the container shall be divided without opening it or whether the two body members shall be broken separately into two body member halves. The displaced bridge allows the breaking of the closed container so that the object slides inside the container will not get dirty or the specimen destroyed.

For further objects and advantages of the present invention and for further understanding thereof reference may now be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of the first body member of a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line II-II of the body member of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view of the second body member of the first embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a section along the line IV-IV of the body member of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a detail section corresponding to FIG. 2 in a greater scale,

FIG. 6 is a detail section corresponding to FIG. 4 in a greater scale,

FIG. 7 is a view of the first body member of a second embodiment,

FIG. 8 is a detail section along the line VIII-VIII of the body member of FIG. 7 in a greater scale,

FIG. 9 is a view of the second body member of the second embodiment,

FIG. 10 is a detail section along the line X-X of the body member of FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 6 a first embodiment of the invention is described. According to FIGS. 1 and 2 the first body member 1 includes a bottom plate 2, on which two periperheral edge flanges 3 of rectangular configuration are provided. Each edge flange 3 defines a recess for the reception of two object slides 4 made of glass, as will be later described. The dotted lines in FIG. 1 represent these slides.

Each ofthe peripheral edge flanges 3 defines a space, which is divided by a central edge flange section 5 in two equal sub spaces or reception recesses. This arrangement may also be described as to include four peripheral edge flanges on the bottom plate 2, which are combined pairwise so that the edge flanges of each pair have a common central edge flange section 5. As shown in FIG. 2 at the reference 6 all the edge flanges are of equal height. Along the shorter edges of the reception recesses 8 and 9 stop projections 7 are provided, the height of which is equal to the height of the edge flanges 3 with respect to the inward face of the bottom plate 2. The stop projections 7 extend for about 9 mm from the edge flanges 3 in an inward direction. The minimum length of the stop projection 7 should be 2 mm.

Adjacent to the longer sections of the edge flanges 3 of rectangular configuration stop projections 10 are provided, which are of the same height as the edge flanges 3, but are considerably shorter than the stop projections 7. With the embodiment the length of the stop projections 10 is only 1 mm.

The short stop projections 10 are formed integral with support projections 11 provided within the reception recesses 8 and 9 normal to the longer edge flange sections. The support projection 11 have the form of relatively low lands and rise for example only 1 mm over the inward face of the bottom plate 2.

The difference between the height of the stop projections 7 and 10 and the height of the support projections 11 is 2 mm with the desired embodiment. This is sufficient for placing the object slides into the recesses so that one of their large faces is supported by the support projections, while the short edges of the object slides 4 abut against the stop projections 7. Being placed into the reception recess the individual object slide 4 will not project over the free surface of the edge flanges 3 and the stop projections 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 the second body member is described with the general reference number 12. With this embodiment the second body member has solely the function of covering the first body member 1 to form a complete container. The second body member 12 includes a cover or lid bottom plate 13 and a lid peripheral edge flange 14, which is adapted to be smoothly slidable over the edge flange 3 of the first body member. Further the cover body member 12 is provided with low holding projections 15 in the form of lands, which are situated above the supporting projections 11, if the container is closed.

The free edge face of the peripheral lid edge flange 14 is referenced 16 in FIG. 4. The distance of the face 16 from the inward face of the lid bottom plate 13 is 2.8 mm with the shown embodiment.

The bottom plate 2 of the first body member 1 is provided with a rim l7 projecting beyond the base of the edge flange 3 in the plane of the bottom plate. The free edge face 6 of the edge flange 3 has a distance of 2.3 mm from the inward face of the rim 17. If the lid body member 12 is moved with its lid edge flange 14 over the edge flange 3 after the object slides 4 have been placed into the reception recesses 8 and 9, the container is closed. The holding projections 15 of the lid body member 12 rise about 1 mm from the inward face of the body member 12 and contact the other large surface of the object slide not in contact with the support projections 11, so that the object slides may not leave the recesses 8 and 9 the upper plane of which is defined by the free faces 6.

With the described and shown embodiment the first body member includes a larger bottom plate 2, on which two peripheral edge flanges 3 are provided and recesses for two object slides. According to FIG. 5 the bottom plate 2 is provided with a constriction 18 which extends parallel to two opposed and parallel edge flange sections and serves as a predetermined breaking line.

By applying a very small bending force the both halves of the first body member may be easily separated by breaking the bridge 19 between the halves.

Correspondingly the lid body member 12 is provided with two lid peripheral edge flanges 14. Between opposed and parallel section of these flanges 14 a deep constriction 20 is formed. If the halves of the lid body member 12 are bent with respect to the constriction 20, the lid body member will break along the bridge 21 in two substantially equal part containers.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 to 10 another embodiment of the invention is described. For parts already described in connection with the first embodiment the same reference numbers are used. The edge flange faces 6 have a distance of 6 mm from the outer surface of the bottom plate 2 of the first body member 1. With respect to the faces 6 the free face of the central section 5 is 2.5 mm deeper. With this embodiment further supporting projections 22 and 23 are provided in assist the support projections 11 in supporting the object slides. The support projections 22 extend parallel and adjacent to the longer sections of the edge flange 3 and the projections 23 are parallel and adjacent to the center section 5. With the known embodiment the support projections 11, 22 and 23 lie about 0.9 mm deeper than the stop projections 10.

If, for example, an object slide 4 of 1.1 mm thickness is placed in the recess 9, it will be supported by the support projections 11, 22 and 23 and abut against the stop projections 7 and 10; and will not project beyond the edge flange 3.

As shown in FIG. 8 the predetermined breaking line differs somewhat from the breaking line 19 of the first embodiment. A thin connection bridge 24 is formed in the middle of the bottom plate 2 thus connecting two first body halves 1a and lb. The bridge 24 is formed substantially between the faces 6 and the outer free edge of the halves la and lb to make the breaking of the bridge easier.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 the second body member of the second embodiment is shown, which substantially differs from the second body member 12. The reference number shall be 25. On a bottom plate 26 there are provided two edge flanges 27, which are divided in a manner known from the first body member 1 by central flange sections 28 into reception recesses 29 and 30. In the recesses there are provided stop projections 31 for the shorter edges of the object slides and stop projections 32for the larger edges of the object slides. Further in each reception recess 29 and 39 support projections 33 are provided, which extend parallel to the shorter peripheral edge flange sections, and support projection 34 and 35, which extend parallel to the longer peripheral edge flange sections of the edge flanges 27. The reception recesses defined by the stop and support projections 31, 32 respectively, 33, 34, 35 correspond to the recesses 8 and 9 in the first body member 1.

The second body member 25 is also divided into two parts 25a and 25b by means of a bridge 36. The bridge 36 is also arranged in a displaced manner with respect to the free outward surface of the bottom plage 26.

Analogous to the first embodiment, the outer dimensions of the edge flange 27 are made smaller to such an extent that the edge flange 3 may slide over the edge flanges 27 to abutment of the flange 3 on a rim 37 extending in the plane of the bottom plate 26 of the second body member 25 and projecting beyond the base of the edge flange 27. To allow the engagement of the first and second body members 1 and 25 the distance of the opposed and parallel flange sections of the edge flange 3 and 27, between which the predetermined breaking lines 24 and 36, respectively, are provided is 2 mm for the first body member and 5 mm for the second body member. With the second embodiment the height difference between the stop and support projections is again 0.9 mm, so that object slides of different standard thickness may be shipped in this container without being able to leave the reception recess.

The specimens on the object slide do not come into contact with the inward face of the bottom plates of either body member, as for example with the second embodiment the distance between the inward face of the bottom plate, 1 mm thickness, and the adjacent face of the slide 4 amounts to 1.6 mm.

With this embodiment it makes no difference, whether the object slides 4 are placed into the first or the second body member 1 or 25. After the safe placing of the object slides in the recesses of one body member the nurse or a like person seizes the corresponding other body member and closes the container. In the same way it makes no difference whether the first body member is moved from the second body member to open the container or vice versa. As the breaking bridges are displaced from the free surface of the bottom plates, the multiple-slide container may be divided without opening the container.

Both embodiments provide a container which has a very low weight and is easy to clean and sterilize if made of plastic, and of a low height, so it may be sent by mail, after putting it in a suitable envelope or addressed correctly in another way. These containers may be preferably produced by injection molding the plastic. A very convenient plastic is polystyrene.

What We claim is:

1. A container for supporting and confining a planar rectangular object slide having a peripheral edge and opposite sides comprising, in combination, first and second interconnectible body members each having a peripheral edge and inner side surface, said first body member having a first peripheral edge flange extending transversely away from the associated side surface adjacent the associated peripheral edge, said second body member having a second peripheral edge flange extending transversely away from the associated side surface adjacent the associated peripheral edge and closely telescopically received within said first flange, a plurality of support projections defined on each of said body members within the said peripheral flanges thereof extending from the associated inner side surface having slide supporting surfaces spaced from the associated inner side surface, a plurality of stop projections defined on at least one of said members within the peripheral flange thereof and extending from the associated inner surface a distance greater than that of said support projections defined in the associated body member, said stop projections each including an edge surface transversely disposed to the associated inner surface, said stop projections being located on the associated inner surface such that at least two pairs of edge surfaces are in opposed relation, each pair of opposed edge surfaces lying in a plane and the plane of said two pairs being perpendicularly disposed to each other and each said surface is engagable with a different edge of a slide placed intermediate said stop projection edge surfaces, said edge surfaces and said support projections of the associated member defining a slide receiving recess, said support projections slide supporting surfaces of said first and second body members being sufficiently spaced from each other to receive an object slide therebetween.

2. In a container as in claim 1 wherein said stop projections of one of said body members extends from the associated inner side surface a distance substantially stop projections of said members are in opposed aligned relationships upon said first and second body members being telescopically interfitted.

5. In a container as in claim 1 wherein said support projections are spaced from said stop projections of the associated body member wherein the pressing of an object slide within said recess at a marginal portion of said object slide permits said object slide to be tilted from said recess.

k t l I! k 

1. A container for supporting and confining a planar rectangular object slide having a peripherAl edge and opposite sides comprising, in combination, first and second interconnectible body members each having a peripheral edge and inner side surface, said first body member having a first peripheral edge flange extending transversely away from the associated side surface adjacent the associated peripheral edge, said second body member having a second peripheral edge flange extending transversely away from the associated side surface adjacent the associated peripheral edge and closely telescopically received within said first flange, a plurality of support projections defined on each of said body members within the said peripheral flanges thereof extending from the associated inner side surface having slide supporting surfaces spaced from the associated inner side surface, a plurality of stop projections defined on at least one of said members within the peripheral flange thereof and extending from the associated inner surface a distance greater than that of said support projections defined in the associated body member, said stop projections each including an edge surface transversely disposed to the associated inner surface, said stop projections being located on the associated inner surface such that at least two pairs of edge surfaces are in opposed relation, each pair of opposed edge surfaces lying in a plane and the plane of said two pairs being perpendicularly disposed to each other and each said surface is engagable with a different edge of a slide placed intermediate said stop projection edge surfaces, said edge surfaces and said support projections of the associated member defining a slide receiving recess, said support projections'' slide supporting surfaces of said first and second body members being sufficiently spaced from each other to receive an object slide therebetween.
 2. In a container as in claim 1 wherein said stop projections of one of said body members extends from the associated inner side surface a distance substantially equal to the distance the associated peripheral flange extends from the associated side surface.
 3. In a container as in claim 1 wherein said peripheral edges of said body members comprise peripheral flanges outwardly extending from the associated peripheral edge flange, said peripheral flanges permitting manual grasping of said body members for separating the same when telescopically interfitted.
 4. In a container as in claim 1 wherein stop projections are defined upon each of said body members, and are similarly arranged and wherein said support and stop projections of said members are in opposed aligned relationships upon said first and second body members being telescopically interfitted.
 5. In a container as in claim 1 wherein said support projections are spaced from said stop projections of the associated body member wherein the pressing of an object slide within said recess at a marginal portion of said object slide permits said object slide to be tilted from said recess. 